Unless you've been off the grid for awhile, you've heard of blogs. Blogs are revolutionizing the way companies and customers interact about everything -- from existing products to new ventures to customer service.

When they began, blogs were online diaries to record personal thoughts. Today, blogs have evolved into virtual communities. A blog is a place to visit for interaction, dialog, and conversation. Blogs allow readers to respond to the author's posts, provide additional information, add links, share pictures, expand their opinions, and more.

With blogs, smart online businesses rediscovered a principle that mom-and-pop stores have understood for years: know your customers, and stay in touch with their needs and desires. Blogs allow your customers to tell you what they do and don't like about your services, products, and any other aspect of the market.

Unlike traditional static web pages where content seldom changes, an active blog changes regularly, often daily. This means that search engines index its content more frequently. Thus, given some skill and persistence on your part, a blog can improve your website search results rankings.

It helps to be real, visible, and personal in your blog. Post your picture; express your personality as well as your thoughts and opinions. It takes a little courage to do this, it’s true. But you may find that people will relate to you more than other businesses that haven’t humanized themselves with a blog. If people can relate to you, they’ll choose you when the need arises.

If you know how to type, connect to the Internet, and use a web browser, you can create a blog. New blogging software makes blogging easy. Caution though! If you can’t stand to write, or don’t have time for daily visits and updates, you’d better not blog. Choose a different way to promote your business.

Before you decide whether you have time for a blog, though, learn about how it could help your business. People have used blogs to attract new customers, decide where to open new branch locations, demonstrate expertise in their field, or build a buzz about a product, service, or issue.